file size problem...

[mstephens]

so i have 4 different pictures that i was trying to upload onto the website of the company i get my prints through. they were all 4 shot in raw, then had a little bit of photoshopping, each of which has 2-4 layers. i then saved each picture as a tiff file with no compression and interleaved for macintosh. when i went to upload the pictures, the upload box says 311mb for all 4 images. is that how large the typical file will be? because it says it will take 130 minutes to upload 4 pictures which is kinda crazy. what should i do different?

ooh yea, i want the best quality possible because i will be printing 20'' x 30'' and 10'' x 15'' color prints.

thanks everyone

 

[Big Mike]

TIFF files are huge, especially if you don't dump the layers and compress.

I would try saving them as JPEGs or else finding a different way to upload them.

 

[The_Traveler]

tiff file with no compression
the best quality possible because i will be printing 20'' x 30'' and 10'' x 15'' color prints.
thanks everyone

The quality is related to the pixel dimensions of the files (and the original sharpness of your image of course) so, if you are printing 20x 30 inch prints the pixel dimensions should be 5000 to 6000 by 7500 to 9000. The files should be in the color profile required by the printer.

That being said, there is no reason to send a multi-layer TIFF; the printer won't be manipulating your image unless this is a custom lab. Compress the layers and save as a JPG with minimum compression. This will give a sizeable but not humongous file (from up to 7-9 meg) that will print perfectly well.